|
|
Post by kims on Dec 30, 2023 10:24:37 GMT
I have no info to provide but this: there was a show with a doorman you only heard over an intercom with the star. I think it was in the 70's. There was a lot of speculation about who was the voice and finally TV Guide had an article about who it was. I'm hoping someone can remind me which show this is.
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Dec 30, 2023 13:32:40 GMT
I have no info to provide but this: there was a show with a doorman you only heard over an intercom with the star. I think it was in the 70's. There was a lot of speculation about who was the voice and finally TV Guide had an article about who it was. I'm hoping someone can remind me which show this is. |
|
|
|
Post by intrepid37 on Dec 30, 2023 20:33:12 GMT
Yes, it's definitely "Rhoda" in which the faceless doorman was a regular character. Lorenzo Music was primarily a writer, producer and voice actor who was never seen on the small screen. I believe, however, he was seen in the 1976 movie "Nickelodeon".
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Dec 30, 2023 20:41:57 GMT
It became a gimmick on TV to have a character who was sometimes heard, but never seen.
On My Mother the Car Jerry Van Dyke's mother was voiced by Ann Sothern.
On MASH a voice frequently heard on the P.A. system was provided by actor Sal Viscuso but never seen on camera.
On Knight Rider the voice of KITT, the car driven by David Hasselhoff, was voiced by William Daniels.
On Cheers George Wendt's character Norm spent more time at the bar than with his never-seen wife Vera. However, there was one episode where Norm thought Vera was cheating on him and hired a private detective. The detective showed up at Cheers with a tape recording of a meeting Vera had with some mystery man, and that time we did hear her voice.
|
|
|
|
Post by BunnyWhit on Dec 30, 2023 21:44:07 GMT
It became a gimmick on TV to have a character who was sometimes heard, but never seen.
On My Mother the Car Jerry Van Dyke's mother was voiced by Ann Sothern.
On MASH a voice frequently heard on the P.A. system was provided by actor Sal Viscuso but never seen on camera.
On Knight Rider the voice of KITT the car driven by David Hasselhoff, was voiced by William Daniels.
On Cheers George Wendt's character Norm spent more time at the bar than with his never-seen wife Vera. However, there was one episode where Norm thought Vera was cheating on him and hired a private detective. The detective showed up at Cheers with a tape recording of a meeting Vera had with some mystery man, and that time we did hear her voice.
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Dec 30, 2023 21:56:05 GMT
It became a gimmick on TV to have a character who was sometimes heard, but never seen.
On My Mother the Car Jerry Van Dyke's mother was voiced by Ann Sothern.
On MASH a voice frequently heard on the P.A. system was provided by actor Sal Viscuso but never seen on camera.
On Knight Rider the voice of KITT, the car driven by David Hasselhoff, was voiced by William Daniels.
On Cheers George Wendt's character Norm spent more time at the bar than with his never-seen wife Vera. However, there was one episode where Norm thought Vera was cheating on him and hired a private detective. The detective showed up at Cheers with a tape recording of a meeting Vera had with some mystery man, and that time we did hear her voice.
I can see where it might be necessary to delay seeing a character for dramatic purposes, or if the producers are trying to find the right performer for the role...that adds to the build-up and interest in the character before they appear on the scene. But to do this continually, in episodes across many seasons of a long-running show, I just don't get it.
On Knight Rider it was more believable, because the car was not human (though it had a human voice)...but they still could have done a prequel type episode and explain how that particular man's voice was selected. Maybe he was someone who had worked with Michael Knight years ago and had built the car, etc., but was now dead, and his voice lived on. Whatever, you get the idea.
On Dynasty the show ended its first season with a cliffhanger inside a courtroom. Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) was on trial for murdering his son Steven's gay lover, and the prosecutors brought his vengeful ex-wife Alexis to town to testify against him. The episode ends with a woman dressed in a black veil approaching the witness stand. We don't see Joan Collins' face until the season two premiere, when she lifts the veil and is sworn in, then begins her testimony.
In that case, Aaron Spelling needed extra time to finalize Joan Collins' contract. So when they had filmed the season 1 cliffhanger months before (with an extra dressed in the veil), they were unable to show Alexis' face even if they had wanted to. As I said, this delay in seeing her on camera created more interest in the character before she began appearing. |
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Dec 30, 2023 22:00:37 GMT
Oh and speaking of John Forsythe...we always heard his voice but never saw his face as Charles Townsend, the owner of the detective agency on Charlie's Angels. That was a gimmick but done to keep costs down, since it was cheaper to pay Forsythe for his voice, uncredited, than to make him an official cast member. The final episode has Jaclyn Smith's character Kelly in the hospital after having been shot. And we learn that one of the "doctors" who comes into her room to see her is Charlie with a mask on, again concealing his face...that was done with an extra, not with John Forsythe, who was busy working on Dynasty.
In another example of this, the first season of Magnum P.I. had Orson Welles provide the voice of Robin Masters, the owner of the estate where Magnum (Tom Selleck) lived under the head of household, Higgins (John Hillerman). Robin was heard on the phone during episodes of the first season. But that practice was discontinued, I think because Welles' price had gone up. Later seasons of the hit show did a retcon to imply Robin was a fictitious alias of Higgins, and really the estate was owned by Higgins. However, Higgins never confirmed Magnum's suspicions that Higgins and Mr. Masters were one in the same, which provided some amusement and ongoing mystery.
|
|
|
|
Post by intrepid37 on Dec 30, 2023 22:08:40 GMT
What about The Millionaire? Did we not just see the back of him and hear his voice instructing "Mike" who he was to serve next?
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Dec 30, 2023 22:18:51 GMT
What about The Millionaire? Did we not just see the back of him and hear his voice instructing "Mike" who he was to serve next? |
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Dec 30, 2023 23:36:24 GMT
It became a gimmick on TV to have a character who was sometimes heard, but never seen.
On My Mother the Car Jerry Van Dyke's mother was voiced by Ann Sothern.
On MASH a voice frequently heard on the P.A. system was provided by actor Sal Viscuso but never seen on camera.
On Knight Rider the voice of KITT the car driven by David Hasselhoff, was voiced by William Daniels.
On Cheers George Wendt's character Norm spent more time at the bar than with his never-seen wife Vera. However, there was one episode where Norm thought Vera was cheating on him and hired a private detective. The detective showed up at Cheers with a tape recording of a meeting Vera had with some mystery man, and that time we did hear her voice.
I don't view just having the voice of Mrs. Wolowitz as a gimmick. Mrs. Wolowitz was a very minor character, whose only purpose was to remind us that she was an overbearing Jewish mom to a wimpy young man. I don't see what would have been gained by hiring an actor so that we could see her yell at him. Also, Howard's expressions and how he reacted was 95% of the joke. Thus, an actual in-person mom would have been a distraction. |
|
